The City Review highly recommends the following
books on the history, architecture, neighborhoods, landmarks and
shapers of New York City as well as a few on urban design and
planning and New York City artists.

Indispensable

"The A. I. A. Guide to New York City,
Third Edition," by Elliot Willensky
and Norval White, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988, pp. 999. If
you only get one book, this is it. Very short and witty comments
on more buildings than any other source with accurate information
on architects and date of completion as well as great index where
you can easily see what other buildings individual architects
did. Some maps and small photographs. Remarkably well-bound, but
thick paperback. (See The City Review article
on the Fourth Edition of this great guide).

"New York 1900, Metropolitan Architecture
and Urbanism, 1890-1915," by Robert
A. M. Stern, Gregory Gilmartin & John Massengale, Rizzoli
International, 1983, pp. 502. The first volume of this monumental,
essential and very important study of the 20th Century's greatest
city, with many excellent, large photographs. Click
here to order this book at amazon.com.

"New York 1930, Architecture and Urbanism
Between The Two World Wars," by
Robert A. M. Stern, Gregory Gilmartin and Thomas Mellins,(Rizzoli
International, 1987), pp. 847. The second volume in this monumental,
essential and very important study of the 20th Century's greatest
city, with many excellent, large photographs. Click
here to order this book at amazon.com.

"New York 1960, Architecture And Urbanism
Between The Second World War And The Bicentennial," by Robert A. M. Stern, Thomas Mellins and David Fishman,
(The Monacelli Press, 1995), pp. 1,374. The third volume in this
monumental, essential and very important study of the 20th Century's
greatest city, with many excellent, large photographs. This volume
organized differently than first two volumes, but still indispensable.
Click
here to order the book

"New York 1880: Architecture and Urbanism
in the Gilden Age," by Robert
A. M.Stern, Thomas Mellins and David Fishman, The Monacelli Press,
1,008 pages, 1999, $65. The fourth huge volume in this brilliant
series. Click
here to order this book from
amazon.com.

"The Iconography of Manhattan Island,
1498-1909: Compiled from Original Sources and Illustrated by Photo-Intaglio
Reproductions of Important Maps (6 volume set)," by I. N. Phelps Stokes, reprint edition, 1998. Essential
work on Manhattan's history, long out of print. Click
here to order it for $750 from amazon.com.

"How the Other Half Lives: Studies
Among the Tenements of New York (Penguin Classics)," by Jacob A. Riis with a new introduction by Luc Sante,
pp. 224, reprint, 1997. Classic study by great photographer
and sociologist and civic reformer. Click
here to order the book for $9.95 from amazon.com.

"Essential New York, A Guide to the
History and Architecture of Manhattan's Important Buildings, Parks
and Bridges," by John Tauranac,
Holt Rinehart Winston, 1979, pp. 273. A pocketsize chronological
guide to many of New York's most famous structures that is often
witty and always incisive with many photographs.

"On Broadway, A Journey Uptown Over
Time," by David W. Dunlap, Rizzoli,
1990, pp. 327. This large, fine book is written by a reporter
for The New York Times who also took most of the many,
excellent photographs.

"Upper West Side Story, A History and
Guide," by Peter Salwen, Abbeville
Press, 1989, pp. 383. Excellent history with some photographs,
walking tours and lists of celebrities who lived in specific buildings.

"Privately Owned Public Spaces The
New York Experience," by Jerold
S. Kayden, John Wiley & Sons, 2000, 348 pages, more than 300
black and white photographs, $49.95.This important study
was co-sponsored by the Municipal Art Society and the New York
City Department of Planning and documents more than 500 plazas,
arcades, covered pedestrian spaces, atriums, gallerias and the
like that have been used by developers to build bigger buildings.
Excellent data, but criticism is fairly general.Click
here to order the book from Amazon.com.

"The Architecture of Additions: Design
and Regulation," by Paul Spencer
Byard, W. W. Norton & Company, 1999, pp. 191, $40. This wonderful
book (see long article in The City Review)
examines many of the city's most important architecture controversies
with many illustrations as well as discussing many important projects
elsewhere. It is thoughtful, provocative and very intelligent
on the extremely difficult subject of how best to incorporate
modern elements into historic properties. Click
here or on photo of book cover below to order the book

"Changing New York, The Architectural
Scene," by Christopher Gray, Dover
Publications, Inc., 1992, pp. 118. This large, well-illustrated
book contains 110 of the author's superb "Streetscape"
columns from The New York Times. Click
here to order the book from amazon.com.

"Lost New York," by Nathan Silver,
Wings Books, 1967, pp. 242. An important
book that documented how heedless New Yorkers were of their great
architectural heritage before the creation of the city's Landmarks
Preservation Commission in 1965.

"Along The Way:
MTA Arts for Transit" by Sandra
Bloodworth and William Ayres, The Monacelli Press, 2006, $50.
Magnificent finds for future archaeologists! Fine and richly illustrated
catalogue of public art in New York City's transit system. Full
of delightful surprises.

"Fifth Avenue, A Very Social History," by Kate Simon, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1978, pp.
372. A broad sweep of the famous street's social and cultural
history that is well written with a few photographs.

"Strange Bedfellows, The First American
Avant-Garde," by Steven Watson,
Abbeville Press, 1991, pp. 440. Superb account of the glory days
of Greenwich Village and its many cultural stars, with many superb
illustrations. Click
here to order the book for $38 from amazon.com.

"New York, New York, How the Apartment
House Transformed the Life of the City (1869-1930)," by Elizabeth Hawes, An Owl Book, Henry Holt and Company,
1993, pp. 285. Readable history with a few photographs.

"New York Deco," by Carla Breeze with introduction by Rosemary Haag
Bletter, Rizzoli, 1993, pp. 96. Small book with many color photographs.

"Sutton Place, Uncommon Community by
the River," by Christopher Gray,
Sutton Area Community, Inc., 1997, pp.80. Excellent history of
the development of this area at the east end of 57th Street into
a luxury residential district with many interesting photographs.
$18.95. Click
here to order the book from amazon.com.

"The New York Apartment Houses of Rosario
Candela and James Carpenter,"
by Andrew Alpern with essays by David Netto and Christopher Gray,
Acanthus Press, 2001, pp. 350, $65. Many photographs of exteriors
and some interiors with many layouts, all in black in white, about
all the "luxury" apartment houses designed by these
two architects. (see The City Review article).
Click
here to order the book from Amazon.com

"It Happened in Manhattan, an Oral
History of the City in the Mid-Twentieth Century," by Myrna Katz Frommer and Harvey Frommer, Berkeley
Publishing Group, 2001, pp. 312. Wonderful anecdotes from a wide
range of New Yorkers about the three decades after World War II.
(See The City Review article.) Click
here to order the book from Amazon.com

"The Golden City," by Henry Hope Reed, the Norton Library, W. W. Norton
& Company, Inc., 1971, pp. 160. A fine discussion of and argument
for grand Beaux-Arts and Classical architecture and what's wrong
with much of modern architecture, mostly in New York City, with
many photographs. Click
here to order the book for $7.30 from amazon.com.

"Beaux-Arts Architecture in New York:
A Photographic Guide," by Henry
H. Reed and Edmund Vincent Gillon, Dover Publications, Inc., 1988.
Fine study with essays by prominent architectural historian
and good photographs. Click
here to order the book for $9.95 from amazon.com.

"Risk, Ruin & Riches, Inside The
World of Big-Time Real Estate,"
by Jim Powell, Macmillan Publishing company, 1986, pp. 376. Histories
of many of the major New York City developers.

"Glory in Gotham,Manhattan's
Houses of Worship, A Guide to their History, Architecture and
Legacy,"by
David W. Dunlap and Joseph J. Vecchione, aCity
& Company Guide, 2001, pp. 170, $14. A good introductory architectural,
ecclesiastic and social guide to Manhattan's major religious institutions
that hopefully will be followed by an expanded and more comprehensive
edition by the authors with larger and more illustrations. (See
The
City Review's article on this book.)

"Skyscraper Dreams, The Great Real
Estate Dynasties of New York,"
by Tom Shactman, Little Brown and Company, 1991, pp. 354. Histories
of many of the major New York City developers.

"New York's Architectural Holdouts," by Andrew Alpern and Seymour Durst, Dover Publications,
Inc., 1997. Fine historical study by leading architectural
historian and one of the city's major developers and collectors
of memorabilia. Click
here to order the book from amazon.com.

"New York, Old & New, Its Story,
Streets and Landmarks," by Rufus
Rockwell Wilson, J. B. Lippincott Company, 1909. A pleasant history
with some illustrations.

"Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families
of New York," by Stephen Birmingham,
Syracuse Univesity Press, reprint, 1996. Classic study of
great financial dynasties and art collectors many of whom were
very influential in New York City. Click
here to order the book from amazon.com.

"Sidewalk Critic: Lewis Mumford's Writings
on New York," by Lewis Mumford,
Robert Wojtowicz, editor, Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 288.
Good selection of his "Skyline" essays from The
New Yorker. Click
here to order from amazon.com.

"George and Edward Blum: Texture and
Design in New York Apartment House Architecture," by Andrew S. Dolkart and Susan Tunick, Princeton Architecture
Press, 1993. Fine, short study of architectural firm very
active on the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan who
employed terracotta ornamentation. Click
here to order the book from amazon.com.